Reward Transit Users, Not Drivers

Pre-Tax Benefit: If Congress doesn't act, the bus and train subsidy will drop

December 16, 2011

Facing a demonstrable need to use less fossil fuel, the country's leaders ought to encourage commuters to use transit. Congress is about to do just the opposite.

Under federal law, commuters can use up to $230 a month in pre-tax income to pay for parking. Putting the wisdom of this incentive aside, since 2009 it has also been made available to transit users. But the law granting the benefit to transit users expires at the end of this year.

If it is not renewed at the same level, the tax break to transit commuters will drop to $125 a month — while the parking benefit goes up to $240, due to a cost of living adjustment.

Both of Connecticut's U.S. senators are supporting a bill that would permanently bring the transit benefit up to $240 a month and avoid what some are calling a "transit tax hike." The trick is going to be getting a vote on the bill, with Congress tied in knots over the payroll tax cut and trying to adjourn before Christmas.

Let's hope the solons can find a way to pass this bill. Every gallon of fuel that isn't burned in a car is another gallon that doesn't have to be extracted from a mile below the Gulf of Mexico, Canadian oil sands or a desert in the Middle East of uncertain political allegiance.

Commuters should be rewarded for leaving their cars at home, not for pushing them through congested traffic.